Josh White
Video - Interview with Doug Yeager, Josh White estate manager and archivist, about Josh White and the connection with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, 2020.
Videography by Jeremy Lamberton.
Periodical - EBONY Magazine article about Josh White and the Roosevelts, 1945.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Document - "That's Why I'm Marching: Mobilizing African Americans for War" (Josh White and the Roosevelt White House). Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Document - "My Day" by Eleanor Roosevelt, November 10, 1945.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Document - "My Day" by Eleanor Roosevelt, December 27, 1945.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager
Photograph - Josh White, Josh White, Jr., Joe Lewis, and Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Album - Freedom by Josh White.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Album - Southern Exposure by Josh White, 1941.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Correspondence - Letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to Josh White, January 9, 1948.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Periodical - TIME Magazine, "The Personal Approach," article about Eleanor Roosevelt and Josh White, July 3, 1950.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Photograph - Josh White and Josh White, Jr. at War Bonds Rally, Central Park, 1944.
Courtesy of Doug Yeager.
Album - Songs by Josh White, Asch Recordings, 1944.
In 1941, Josh White's second album consisting entirely of protest songs, Southern Exposure: An Album of Jim Crow Blues, was released. With its original songs protesting government-sanctioned segregation and Jim Crow laws, the record caused a major backlash in the South and also caught the attention of President Roosevelt.
President Roosevelt telephoned White at his home in Harlem and invited him to perform the album's songs at a White House concert, the first-ever Command Performance by a Black man. Roosevelt invited his cabinet, the Supreme Court, and members of Congress to attend the concert, which created a stir among the powerful and prestigious audience.
After the concert, President Roosevelt invited White to join him and Mrs. Roosevelt upstairs in their private chambers for Cafe Royale (coffee and brandy) and crumpets. The President and Mrs. Roosevelt were interested in gathering first-hand knowledge of what it was like living in the Jim Crow South as a Black man.
After absorbing White's life story, President Roosevelt asked, "Josh, when you sang that song 'Uncle Sams Says,' earlier this evening, were you referring to me?" Josh responded, "Yes, Mr. President, I was singing those lyrics about and to you...but it wasn't the first time...in 1933, I recorded a song, 'Low Cotton,' where I asked you to intervene and help the lives of the poor cotton pickers down South." The President then asked Josh to sing both songs again.
The friendship among the Roosevelts, Josh White, and his family continued for many years and became so deep that Eleanor Roosevelt was named as the godmother of Josh White, Jr.
Click here for "Low Cotton" video
“LOW COTTON” was a popular recording during the "Race Records" era for Joshua White in 1933. He wrote about the plight of cotton pickers in the South, and brought the issue to the attention of the president in its lyrics. Eight years later, he sang the song to President Roosevelt and Eleanor in their White House private chambers.
In the BBC footage, Josh White performs two songs and shares his memories of his job at eight years old as the lead boy for blind musicians.